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E flat major chord

The three notes, the three ways to stack them and which fingers to use.

The short answer

The notes of the E flat major chord are E flat, G and B flat.

On the keys

Keyboard with E flat, G and B flat markedGE♭B♭

Yellow is the root, the note the chord is named after.

On the staff

Treble and bass staves showing the E flat major chord in root position: E flat, G and B flat

The E flat major chord in root position. The treble clef is the right hand; the bass clef is the same chord an octave lower for the left.

Inversions

An inversion keeps the same three notes and changes which one is lowest. The E flat major chord has a root position and two inversions, and all three still sound as E flat major.

  1. Root positionE♭ G B♭right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1
  2. First inversionG B♭ E♭right hand 1 2 5, left hand 5 3 1
  3. Second inversionB♭ E♭ Gright hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 2 1

Keep going

E flat major scale

The scale this chord is built on: E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C and D.

C minor chord

The relative minor shares the same key signature as E flat major.

E flat minor chord

Same root, one note different: the third moves a semitone down.

Questions

How do you build an E flat major chord?

Start on E flat, add the major third (four semitones) above it, which is G, then the perfect fifth above the root (seven semitones), which is B flat.

How many inversions does an E flat major chord have?

Two: first inversion puts G at the bottom and second inversion puts B flat at the bottom. With root position that makes three ways to play the same chord.

Practise E flat major and the chords around it in PlayPiano, a piano practice app for iPhone and iPad.

Play it in the app